Peters



4 Sheets-Sheet 1.

J. I. PEYTON.

Ore-Separator. No. 222,529. Patented Dec. 9,1879.

WITNESSES IN VE'JVTOR N.PETERS. PHDTO-UTHOGRAPHER. WASHING ON. u C.

4 Sheets-Sheet .2. J; I. PEYTON.

Ore-Separator. No. 222,529. Patented Dec. 9, I879.

%.3 By his .Atforneyv Jase/ad N-mi, PHOTO-UTHDGRAPHER WASI'HNGTON D 4 Sheets-Sheet 3.

J. I. PEYTON.

Ore-Separator. No. 222,529. PatentedDec. 9, 1879.

WWI ll mun m all 7///////A V/l/l/////////////////////i l l lllllllllll l lllllllllllllllll l I In lll WITNESSES [JV VENTO R %:g By his .Atforneys Jase/w? Peyton I I 4 Sheets-Sheet 4. J. I. PBYTON. Ore-Separator. No. 222,529. Patented Dec. 9, 1879.

INVENTOR,

WITNESSES I Jase 2k. 12 7 11 M By his .Atfnrneys P/d I m5, PHOTO-LITHOGHAPNEB, WASHING lmenoivieivieur l N Josnr r r. narrower WASHINGTON, nisrnrc'r or COLUMBIA.

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I 1 Specification forming partof .Letters Patent No. 222,529, dated December 9, 1879 application filed September 5, 1879-.

1 To all whom it may concern:

1 Be it known that I, J OSEPH I. PEYTON, .of 1 Washington city, in the District of Columbia, have invented certain, new and useful hr 1 provements in the art of separating su bstanc'esf of 'difl'erent gravit'ies, or concentrating matters 3, according to weight,andin mechanism therej for, of which the following .is specification.

a My improvements particularly pertain to what is known intheore-separator class of inventions as the dry process of separationor concentration,orthat in which isemployed a. blast or inducedcurrent ot'latmospheric air or g' other fluid (not liquid) under pressure;

. ,It is the main object of-my invention'toconcen trate or separate from a mass of mixed substances those particles or matters contained in the bulk of materialtreatedwhich preponderate in specific gravit-yiover the residue, and

[this with but slight .regard to -theweight'or size of the particles or matters so possessing the requisite specific gravity, provided the particles, especially if very minute, are of somewhat solid, compact, or dense form, or are so shaped as notto be verythiinand not to present an undue or excessive amouutof surface in proportion, totheirweight, such as, practically considered, would very materially lessen their specific gravity and render that 1 property of the substances acteduupon less available, and, in someinstances, wholly useless, for the purposes of this invention.

improvements maybe defined to be essentially as follows:

First. An improvement inzthe art of separating automatically, consisting in traveling orprogressing, by impulsion or projectile motion, those particles or substances'in the mass being treated which are of requisite Weight or .Sufficient specific gravityagain'st or through acounteracting fluid medium or in a directionv different-from that iuwhichthe force of an air-blast or other induced current acts with a tendency to move them as, they are projected into it, whereby, as will hereinafter more fully appear, thes'ub'stances operated upon are separated into two portions by treatment within :a space through which" passes the current Hcarrying along the lighter substances as the wei gh tier substances are positivel y fed against it. a

Second An improvement in the above-defined art of separating. by impulsion against or through azresistingfluid medium or air-blast, consisting in repeatedly and in quick succes-' sion giving to the substances being treated positive movements, projectile motions, or impulses into and against the medium of resistance or in a direction against and diagonally totheforce exerted by a current of air, &c., which current is confined in its passage within a space in which the substances operated upon are all retained until separated and delivered, and is of strength sufficient to resist the progress againstit of thelighter particles, and thus, by the successive impulses or repeated short progressive movements imparted to the particles of the proper weights or substances of requisite specific. gravities, delivering them finally (more or less rapidly, accordingto their ability to hold with least deflection, and to the extent of the motions given them by each impulse, their line of travel against the current) to a place of deposit remote from the pointof delivery or discharge of the lighter and the very fine and imperfectly-shaped particles, which are carried along with or by the current, either at once, when first subjected toits influence, or more or less slowly, according to how nearly they respectively approach the conditions essential to enable them to be traveled by impulsion step by step in opposition to the force of the current.

Third. An improvement in the before-dc fined art of automatically separating by impulsion against an air-blaster equivalent fluid medium, consisting in supplying the material vertically or downward, crosswise of, and substantially at a right angle to the blast, through which it has to descend before impulsion upward and diagonally against it, thus insuring the prompt discharge of some, and the movement of others, of the finer and lighter particles in the direction of discharge, and facilitating the separation by the subsequent operation of impulsion.

Fourth. The combination of a trunk passageway or channel having a sloping imperforate bottom, to which trunk the material to be treated is supplied-,. and through which a current-such, for instance, as an air-blast crerated bya fan or bloWer--is directed, and means for reciprocating the trunk-bottom vertically by itself or with the trunk, thus imparting to the material supplied to the trunk projectile motions or impulses in such direction as to impel the preponderating particles or matters of requisite specific gravity into and through the current at the same time that it carries along with it the other substances.

Fifth. The combination of a trunk, passageway, or channel, through which a current or air-blast passes, means for repeatedly and in rapid succession imparting to the material properly supplied to the trunk or channel projectile motions or impulses into and against the force of the current, and a receptacle at the end of the trunk or channel toward which the material is projected, into which the concentrated material is delivered by being impelled against the force of the current.

Sixth. The combination of a fan, a vertically-reciprocated trunk or air-channel having an inclined bottom, the lower end of which is toward the fan or next the air-inlet to the trunk, and a removable receptacle beneath the path of the blast and between the fan and trunk to collect the particles projected through the blast and admit of their inspection and removal.

Seventh. The combination of a verticallyreciprocated air-trunk provided with a tossing bottom, by which the material is repeatedly thrown into and against the force of a blast or air-current, a stationary hopper above the trunk, and a self-adjusting feed-spout or supply-channel leading the material from the hopper to the trunk without interruption of the feed by the movements of the latter.

My improvements in the art, system, or method of separating, and in apparatus suitable for practicing the same, as above outlined, and as will hereinafter specifically be designated by the claims, are obviously susceptible of use beneficially in the treatment of various substances other than auriferous ores or goldbearing earths, 820., to divide the weightier and the lighter particles of a mass of material either according to specific gravity or simply by taking advantage of the property of the preponderat-ing particles of holding a projectile motion against a medium of resistance in opposition to the force exerted, by which the lighter particles cannot be impelled.

The accompanyingdrawin gs show a machine especially devised for the separation or con centration of particles of gold from sand,other earthy matters,&c., with which they are found in dry placer deposits.

All my improvements, or means for practicing them, are shown as embodied in a single machine; but obviously the mechanism may be greatly modified, as will in some respects hereinafter be pointed out, and some of the improvements may be used without the others, as, for instance, by the omission of some features, and by the employment of equivalents for others.

Figure 1 is a plan or top view; Fig. 2, a side elevation; Fig. 3, a front elevation. Fig.4 is a vertical transverse section on the line 4 4 of Fig. 5, and Fig. 5 is a vertical longitudinal section on the line 5 50f Fig. 1. a

A suitable frame, A, preferably of open-work or skeleton form, andsectional for disconnection of parts for transportation, is supported upon bottom beams or a base-plate, B. A

trunk, passage-way, or channel, G, through which a blast or current passes, is supported and guided by the framing A above its base, and is given short and rapid up-and-down movements or quick vertical reciprocations by suitable means, in this instance consisting of a driving-wheel, ,1), supported upon a studshaft at the side of the frame, and provided with a crank, d, to impart motion to it and to pinions E E, which mesh with it at opposite sides and above its center or near its top. These driven pinions are fast on shafts F- F, mounted to turn freely in bearin gs in the frame near its top and crossing above the air-trunk, At the side of theframe opposite that next which the pinions are mounted their shafts carry fixed wheels or crank-platesec. These wheels and the pinions are connected by rods or pitmen f f PF and crank wrists or pins with-cross-bars G G, which are fastened to the air-trunk and play up and down in guide slots in the frame beneath the bottom 0 of the air-trunk, imparting the desired reciprocations to the said bottom alone, as hereinafter to be described, or to both the trunk and hottom,as the driving-wheel is revolved. This wheel turns in the direction of the arrow, for a purpose hereinafter to be explained.

The cross-pieces G G are fastened to downwardly-extended arms or extensions of .the air-trunk sides, and the bottom C of this trunk is inclined, sloping downward from its front to its rear end. This inclined bottom is imperforate, and may he fixed in position or rigidly united to the trunk sides. To admit of adjusting the inclination of the bottom it is hinged, as at g, by its lower or rear end to the bar G, and adjustably connected at its upper or front end with its bar G". A screw-rod, H, working in a tap in the cross-bar, and fitting at its upper reduced shouldered and headed end in a slotted bracket, h, fastened to theunder side of the bottom, serves to adjust the inclination and fix the bottom at any desired point within the range of its vertical play at its front end. Two or more screw-rods may be used, each with the wheel h, for adjusting it. Instead of this particular way of adjust ing the inclination of the bottom other and equivalent devices may be employed, as, for instance, downwardly-projecting arms hinged at their upper ends at the edges of the bottom, and adjustable attheir lowerends by set-screws in slots in the sides of the trunk below the bottom; or properly curved slots and fixed arms could obviously be employed.

The length of stroke or vertical play of the pitmen or connecting-rods, and consequently,

, 0f the trunk, to the cross-bars of which they are pivoted at their lower ends, may be variedby adjusting the crank-pins in different holes in the pinions and disks arranged at yarying distances from their shafts or ceners.

Afan-case, I, is located upon the base or floor timbers of the frame, and the fan-shaft I and its vanes or blades are rapidly rotated by a belt passing from a large driven pulley, J, fast onthe shaft F at the side of the machine opposite that next which the driving-wheel is located, to the pulley J on the fan-shaft. The rotation of the drivingwheel in the direction indicated by the arrow causes the pulley J to revolve in the opposite direction to properly operate the fan. The fan-shaft is supported in bearings in suitable brackets K K.

1 The fan-spout or blast-conductor L directs the current properly to the air trunk or channel (3, which, if of sufficicnt height, may be open at-top.

A drawer or other removable receptacle,

M, is provided at the rear end of the trunk,

of an inch in some cases, or three-eighths of an inch, or even larger-may be supported on ledges at the inner sides of the drawer near its top; and other sieves below similarly supported, and gradually decreasing in size of mesh, so as to terminate in a very fine screensay one-sixteenth or one-thirty-second of an inch-would serve to assert the material in sizes. By suitably lining the drawer, or by providing it with an interior and removable receptacle of copper, mercury could be employed for a purpose soon to be made obvious.

A hopper, N, detachably supported on the top of the frame A, is provided at its bottom with a number of openings, over which clearing pins of a revolving shaft, 0, work to aid the passage of the material through the openings and prevent clogging of the feed. The shaft 0 revolves in bearings in the brackets 1?, outside of the hopper, and serving to support it rigidly on the frame above the airtrunk. A pulley, a, fast on the shaft F, and abelt passing from it to a pulley, p, on the shaft (),.serve to rotate the latter.

"A suitable self-adjustable feed spout or ch annel, Q, to convey the material from the hopper to the trunk, is employed. In this instance a low flaring-topped or hopper-like trough, It, is provided on the top of the trunk,

.as desired.

by a central opening extending across, or nearly across, the trunk-top. Canvas, leather, or other suitable flexible material is used to connect the trough R with the hopper, and thus provide a channel selfadjusting in length which is not at any time sufficientl y relaxed to wrinkle or bend inward far enough to interfere with the dropping of the material from the hopper to the trunk.

To insure the passage of the material to the trunk in a wide thin stream of approximately uniform thickness at all points from side to side of the trunk, scattering threads or readily-flexible and springy wires may be provided crosswise of the channel Q, and attached at their opposite ends to the leather or canvas sides of this spout. The distance the material has to fall and the manner of supplying it from a number of small openings in the hopper will under ordinary circumstances be sufficient to spread or diifuse it properly into a thin stream before it passes to the trunk.

A feed-regulating slide or cut-off, S, serves to stop and to control the amount of the feed, Any suitable lever and detent is to be employed in connection with the slidein well-known ways to hold it in any position to which it may be adjusted.

In operation the gold-bearing sand, gravel, pulverized dry dirt, or hard clayey earth, 850., is first screened (if deemed necessary) either by any of the usual devices for the purpose, or by mounting a screen on the hopper, or in proper way operating a sifter by the machine, so as to remove stones, gravel, &c., of such size as would clog or choke the feed-say all above a quar ter of an inch or half an inch in size in their smallest dimensions. The material should be dry, or not wet enough to be sufficiently muddy or sticky to ball, clog, or arch over and fail to pass through the feed-openings. The machine being set in motion, the material as it passes to the trunk-bottom is repeatedly projectcd against the force of the blast by being violently bounced or tossed from and at a right angle to its inclined surface. Such particles as cannot be impelled against the blast are carried of more or less rapidly, according to how far short they are of the requisite speciiic gravity or weight. The particles traveled by impulsion against the blast are delivered to the receptacle at the lower end of the in clinc, while the others pass off at the front of the trunk.

The amount of travel at each impulse will depend upon the angle at which the particles are thrown against the current. The steeper the incline the greater the progress made at each projectile motion. The incline is adjusted so as to best suit the work being done and the strength of blast employed.

In practice I have found a three-inch throw or vertical movement of the pitmen and about three hundred and fifty (350) revolutions to the minute of their operating-pinions and crank-wheels to answer well for the separation of metallic particles from sand, dirt, and a considerable portion of the gravel with which they were commingled.

The fan-shaft is rotated at a high speed, so as to create a blast of ample strength to carry away the material, which is to be blown oil or discharged at the front of the machine. The force of blast and the strength and angle of toss against it vary according to circumstances, to suit the character of material being operated upon, and so no precise and generally applicable rule for treatment can be given.

Among the modifications which may obviously be made in my invention without departingtherefrom maybementioned the following:

A stream or blast of air may be caused to pass vertically or diagonally across the trunk as from a spout leading it to the top of the trunk near its rearend, and giving to the blast at predetermined and proper line of travel, so that the current would pass by an opening in the top of the trunk across instead of lengthwise of the trunk, and issue by an outlet in the bottom. The blast so used may be caused to travel the path represented by dotted lines X in Fig. 5 in a thin stream. In this way and by the use of a sulliciently steep incline the weightier part1cles would be projected through or across the blast, while the lighter ones would, upon being thrown into and against it, be deflected, and their motion overcome so as to cause them to pass along with the blast through the bottom opening. The particles projected through the blast would be deposited in the drawer, as before. Iiere a single impulse at the time when the particles are directcd against the blast would have to be de pended upon; but the impetus imparted to the material and the angle at which the particles are directed against the current could be sulliciently augmented by the repeated impulses imparted as they are traveled toward the blast by the incline to measurably accomplish the object in view. Instead of an incline some other means for the impulsion of the material against the blast may be employed. The incline, instead of being fixed to or movable with the trunk, may rapidly move to impart the projectile motions against the blast while the trunk remains stationary. It would only be necessary to suitably form the incline, as, for instance, like an inverted trough, the sides or downwardly-pioiecting vertical walls of the trough being fastened at their lower edges to the cross-bars, and these cross-bars playing up and down below the sides of the trunk. The incline would thus telescope or work up and down in the trunk at bottom, never descending so low as to leave a space between the incline and trunk, and never ascending so high as to bring the cross-bars in contact with the sides of the trunk, which would terminate at bottoln higher than shown by the drawings.

Instead of a single inclined plane, as represented, a series of short inclines, somewhat like large ratchet-teeth, may be employed for the bottom, and such inclines having their bases in a common horizontal plane, and their peaks in a line parallel thereto, may be of varying lengths and inclinations, the steeperinclines being nearest the discharge end or front of the machine, to give an increased positive toss or impulse against the blast to such particles as may be carried along to or near the discharge end of the machine when first delivered to the trunk and before opportunity has occured to project them against the blast. In this waythat is to say, by increasing the force of impulsion against the blast by tossin g the particles more nearly directly against it-man y particles that would otherwise be carricd away may be delivered to the receptacle. Another and equivalent, but more perfect, way of accomplishing the same object would be to have a series of varying inclines, the steepest; next the front or discharge end of the machine, and all arranged in ditfcrent planes, or with the bottom of one incline directly abutting against or terminating flush with the top of that next below, thus dispensing with any upright portion or abrupt vertical, or nearly vertical, wall at the bottom of one incline and top of that next below, as is necessarily the case where the ratchet-like inclines or those having bases in the same level are employed. It is further obvious that instead of an inclined plane, or a series of inclines, a horizontal bottom movable at an inclination or guided in its reciprocations by inclined or diagonal slots instead of vertical ones would give the requisite motions to the particles; but I prefer a machine constructed substantially as shown and hcreinbefore specificall y described. The incline, especially if the machine is to be used for separating particles which might be injured by violent contact with a hard surface, may be coated or lined with some soft or elastic substance, as cloth, leather, or rubber.

13y discharging the material blown or carried out at the front of the machine into a suitable receptacle, or leading it ed to a room, 850., the material can be saved, if of value, and reworked, if deemed necessary, as in the concentration of pulverized quartz or crushed ores.

By giving to the feed-spout inlet to the trunk a slight backward decline or slope toward the fan the gravity of the weightier material will to some extent enable it to resist the force of the blast, and it would thus be delivered to the tossing mechanism nearer the back end of the trunk than when dropped vertically into the trunk, as shown.

lly the employment of the trunk with the close or impcrt'orate bottom and sides injurious lateral spread or diffusion of the currentis prevented. Thus weakening and irregularity of the blast in its action, such as would result from spreading through a screen at bottom or scattering throughout a large space, is avoided, and it is contined in its passage to a space in which the material is all retained during treatment, or until separated into two portions, and delivered or discharged at the opposite ends of the trunk.

Strict adherence to the proportions of parts and relative arrangements ofmechanism, as shown by the drawings, is not absolutelynecessary. r

The machines may be made of any desired size, to be driven by hand or power, and, especially forhand-operated machines, the parts should be so constructed and Organized as to provide for changing speeds, so as to increase or diminish the strength of the blast and alter the force of impulsion against it of the substance treated.

I am aware that it is not new to separate the weightier from the lighter particles of a mass of substances by agitation of the material on inclined screens, through and upon and over which blasts are directed so as to carry away light matters, while heavier substances travel down the screens and in directions more or less against the currents, or in part down the screens and in part through their meshes, and I do not claim any such method nor apparatus therefor; neither do I claim separating by gravity or by the fall merely of the weightier substances through or against the force of a blast which blows off the lighter substances, for I am aware that this is old. I am not, however, aware of any method of separating, prior to my invention, as hereinafter claimed, in which a current is caused to pass through a space or channel which confines all the material operated upon until it is separated according to gravity, or nearly so, and

delivered, the said space serving also to define the path of the current or prevent its escape laterally or otherwise, than in the direction in which the lighter substances, or most of them, are carried by it, while the weightier substances, or most of them, are forced or positively traveled by impulsion or projectile motions against the current, so as to effect the feed of the weightier substances one way while carrying the residue of the substances,

. in another direction.

I claim as of my own invention- 1. As an improvement in the art of separating ores and other substances, the method of action of the blast, and lateral spread or injurious difi'usion of the blast prevented, substantially as set forth.

2. As an improvement in the art of separating ores and other substances, the method of separating according to gravity, which consists, whileoonfining the material so that it may be subjected fully to the action of a current or blast, lateral spread or injurious diffusion of which is prevented, in gradually forcing the weightier substances through the blast to the place of deposit by repeatedly impartin g to the respective particles thereof positive impulses or projectile movements in the track of the blast, whereby the material is in part impelled through and in part borne along with the blast step by step, substantially as set forth. 3. As an improvement in the art of separating ores and other substances, the method of separating according to gravity, which consists, while confining the material so that it may be fully subjected to the action of a current or blast, lateral spread or injurious diffusion of which is prevented, in first delivering the material to the blast for rapid removal of light substances in part, and then gradually forcing the weightier substances through the blast to the place of deposit by successively imparting to-the respective particles thereof positive impulses or projectile movements in the track of the blast and against it, the residue of the substances movable by the'blast being borne oil, substantially as set forth.

4. The combination of the fan, the blast trunk or channel, its imperforate sloping bot: tom, and mechanism for reciprocating the bottom vertically, substantially as and for the purpose described.

5. The combination, substantially as hereinbefore set forth, of the trunk, passage-way, or channel open at its ends and having an imperforate bottom, through which trunk a current or air-blast passes, to which the material is supplied, and in which the material is confined during treatment and repeatedly impelled or projected into and against the current, and the receptacle at one end of the trunk into which the material which is impelled against the force of the current is delivered, while the residue escapes at the opposite end.

6. The combination, sllbstantially as hereinbefore set forth, of the frame, the fan, the open-ended air-trunk, passage-way, or channel reciprocating vertically in the frame and having the inclined imperforate bottom, the lower end of which is toward the fan, and the receptacle beneath theipath of the blast and between the trunk and fan.

7. The combination, substantially as hereinbefore set forth, of an air-trunk, passage-way, or channel rapidly moving up and down, and in which the material is repeatedly thrown or projected into and against the force of the current or air-blast, a stationary hopper above the air-trunk, and a self-adjusting feed-spout or supply-channel leading the material from the hopper to the trunk without interruption of the feed by the movements of the trunk and spout.

In testimony whereof I have hereunto subscribed my name.

JOSEPH I. PEYTON.

Witnesses WM. A. SKINKLE, WM. D. BALDWIN. 

